2374: Starfleet Academy Graduate

None on record.

2374: Assigned, Ensign, Operations Officer, USS Veracruz

2382: Promoted and Transferred, Lieutenant JG, Senior Exobiologist, Gamma Vered II Research Outpost

2385: Transferred, Lieutenant JG, Operations Officer, USS Galaxy

2385, November: Promoted, Lieutenant, Chief Operations Officer, USS Galaxy

In 2318, T’Pei was born in the Vulcan city of T’Paal. Her father, Sylek is an Astrophysicist with the Vulcan Science Directorate, and her mother T’Sira was an ambassador to the Federation, but has since retired and teaches at the diplomatic institute in T’Paal. T’Pei spent her pre-pubescent years living with her father and her pet sehlat Mazhyon (sandfire), while her mother conducted diplomatic missions. Her father conducted much of her early schooling in math and science, and as a result, T’Pei had an advanced understanding of physics and math from an early age.

T’Pei was exceptionally adept at controlling her emotions from a young age. In fact, it quickly became clear that she had above average psychic abilities, and much of her early training focused on increasing this natural ability, under the tutelage of a local priestess, T’Less. As part of her training, she underwent the Kahs-wan at an earlier age than most Vulcan children, at 10, rather than 11. At age 7, she was bonded to a Vulcan boy named Sren, and the two remained close throughout childhood.

By the time T’Pei reached adulthood, she was capable of initiating a mind meld without physical contact, and was also capable of mind suggestion to a limited extent with other humanoids. Her heightened abilities made her a prime candidate for the priesthood. However, seeking the approval of her father, she attended the Vulcan science academy in Shi'Khar, specializing in exobiology, and graduated in 2340 with highest honors. Married in 2341, her marriage to Sren’s lasted 28 years, during all of which she lived in the city of Shi’Khar. He lived with her intermittently, as he served aboard the Science Vessel V’lara as its helmsman. They never conceived a child.

In 2368 she was serving as a junior Exobiologist at the Vulcan Science Directorate. When the Science Vessel T’Vran, upon which Sren was serving, went on a 8-month exploratory mission of the Gamma Quadrant, she accompanied as a civilian scientist. Unfortunately, during the ship’s last planetary stop in the Gamma Quadrant, two Jem’Hadar stowed away on board, and upon the T’Vran’s return Alpha Quadrant in 2369, they staged a takeover of the ship.

One of the two Jem’Hadar was able to gain control of the engine room, while the other made his way to the bridge and shot the captain, killing her. He ordered Sren to show him how to pilot the ship. Sren refused, entering a command code which locked the helm. At this point, the other Jem’Hadar arrived and threatened to kill everyone present, including T’Pei. After they had killed two Vulcans without convincing Sren to unlock the helm, the Jem’Hadar proceeded to torture Sren in front of T’Pei and the others present. Their unusually strong psychic bond allowed T’Pei to feel Sren’s mental response to the pain, and her inadvertent vocal reaction alerted the Jem’Hadar that there was some sort of link between the two. He decided that perhaps torturing T’Pei would have more of an effect on Sren. As the Jem’Hadar moved towards T’Pei, Sren attacked him. T’Pei was able to use the Jem’Hadar’s own knife to mortally wound him, but not before he had dealt Sren numerous additional blows. Sren died in T’Pei’s arms while the other Vulcans dealt with the other Jem’Hadar and regained control of the ship.

T’Pei’s heightened psychic sensitivity made the brutal loss of her bondmate exceedingly traumatic. She returned to Vulcan barely in control of her emotions, and feeling responsible for Sren’s death. She decided to undergo the Fullara to suppress her memory of the events and her emotions. It was clear that suppressing only the memory of Sren’s death would be insufficient, for if she retained memories of him at all, his absence would be conspicuous. However, even if it were possible to suppress all memories of him, it would seem odd for her to have no mate. Therefore, in addition to suppressing her memories of the Gamma Quadrant mission, and Sren’s murder, she was given memories of him dying from an illness.

Following the Fullara, T’Pei began to desire to leave Vulcan, and her xenobiology research made her uncomfortable. Due to her suppressed memories, however, it was not clear to her why. She was encouraged to enlist in Starfleet, with the hope that in a foreign environment, nobody would remind her of the events that had been repressed. In 2370, T’Pei entered Starfleet academy. Avoiding science, she chose the Operations track, because it seemed a posting which highly influenced the efficiency of a ship. Her mysterious discomfort with science bothered T’Pei, because it was not logical, and although it was enough to keep her from taking the Sciences track at the academy, she forced herself to continue some of her previous work, and took classes in exobiology, exochemistry xenobiology, and astrophysics. In the last of these, she met a younger Fruna’lin cadet named Cutter Kara’nin, who, due to his drive and commitment to his work, became one of the few students whom she respected. T’Pei socialized little, preferring to focus on her coursework, as well as her research. In spite of this, she did have a small handful of friendly acquaintances, including several non-Vulcans such as Cutter.

T’Pei graduated in 2374. This was at the tail end of the Dominion war, and she was assigned to the USS Veracruz as an Operations Officer. She was present when the Veracruz assisted the Defiant in transporting survivors from AR-558. During this period, she began to resume her research in her offtime, having overcome her discomfort with it. She served on the Veracruz for 8 years, until 2382, at which time she had been promoted to lieutenant junior grade. At this point, it became clear that scientific expertise was necessary in the Vered cluster. Few civilian scientists were interested in working in such a desolate location. As T’Pei’s published works on xenobiology were beginning to attract attention, she was transferred to a science outpost near the New B’Hala colony on Gamma Vered II as Senior Exobiologist, with an assistant, a young Denobulan ensign named Relsta. She does not interact much with the locals, focusing on her research on the indigenous marine lifeforms of the planet.